Everybody's hometown, and mine, Media, Pa., enjoys a moment of national infamy thanks to Ken Silverstein of The Los Angeles Times, who reports on "A Small-Town Lobbyist and Her Big Connection." (If you're not registered with the LAT, try this link.)
As Weldon's friend, Grimes has the opportunity to talk with the congressman about various subjects and, for only $20,000, she'll talk to him about the subject of your choice:
The lobbying firm of Grimes and Young Inc. is not on K Street, famous address of some of the nation's most influential lobbyists. In fact, Grimes and Young is about a 2 1/2 -hour drive from the halls of Congress, in politically remote Media, Pa. (pop. 5,469).
The firm has no office. It has no website. It has only one lobbyist — Cecelia Grimes. And she's a real estate agent. Her resume shows no past experience working on Capitol Hill or for the federal government.
But Grimes and Young has emerged as a niche lobbying firm with access to one powerful member of Congress — Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee.
It is not clear how a small-town real estate agent moved from selling bungalows in suburban eastern Pennsylvania to trading access and influence in the nation's capital. …
Grimes, 40, who calls herself a longtime family friend of Weldon's, represents firms from as far away as California with business involving one or both of Weldon's House committees. Her services typically command a $20,000 annual retainer.
Weldon has taken steps to help at least three lobby clients of Grimes and Young, records and interviews show. And the representative of another company said he was referred to Grimes by a Weldon aide who said Grimes would "help our cause."
"Politically remote"? We're the county seat, thank you very much, and our courthouse steps have been a campaign stop for everybody from William Jennings Bryan to Bob Dole. Weekdays, that population of 5,469 swells to 20,000. We're the home of the Pennsylvania Veterans Museum. There's not a building in town that I'd characterize as a "bungalow." And …
OK, enough sniffing about hometown pride. It's just a bit disconcerting to realize that a neighbor of mine, 10 blocks from here, is selling political influence for five figures:
A representative from another company that has lobbied Weldon's office said a senior Weldon aide suggested the firm retain Grimes. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to protect his company from retribution.
"He didn't flat out say to hire her," the official said, recalling the aide's advice. "But he said … it would be good to have her on our side." …
Congressional watchdog groups said it appeared that some companies retained Grimes not only for future access to Weldon but also to say thank you for the congressman's past support.
"The only thing that she seems to be bring to the table is her relationship with Weldon," Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington watchdog group, said when told of Grimes' work as a lobbyist. …
I'm wondering if Ashdown, and Silverstein, intended that phrase to sound as loaded as it does here: "her relationship with Weldon." Certainly the suggestion that paying Grimes $20,000 is a way of saying "thank you for the congressman's past support" implies something more, let's say, complex than simply "a longtime family friend."
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